Miguel Rojas suffered a back injury in Game 3 of the NLDS; he is aiming to return for the Dodgers’ closeout opportunity against the Braves.
The Los Angeles Dodgers moved to the brink of an NLDS series victory Tuesday night. securing a 3-1 win over the Atlanta Braves behind home runs from Kike Hernandez and Freddie Freeman. Yet. the celebratory mood was tempered in the eighth inning when infielder Miguel Rojas left the field. casting a shadow over the team’s momentum heading into Game 4.
Rojas’ exit occurred during a high-stakes moment: with one man on and nobody out. he swung at a 1-0 sinker above the strike zone. The violent motion caught his back, forcing him to immediately pull up. The team’s training staff rushed to the plate as it became clear he could not continue. Manager Dave Roberts replaced him with pinch-hitter Tommy Edman, who promptly popped out on the first pitch of his at-bat.
For Rojas, the timing was particularly difficult. He finished the game 0-for-3 with a strikeout, but he had entered the contest as the preferred option to face left-handed pitchers like Chris Sale and Brent Suter, thanks to a .806 OPS against lefties during the 2026 season.
“I knew batting in the eighth right there, it was going to be against a lefty. I felt like I was the right guy to take that at-bat,” Rojas explained after the game. “I went to the play without telling anything to the coaches. Unfortunately, when I took the swing, I kinda tweaked it a little more.”
Despite the immediate discomfort, the 2025 World Series hero remains optimistic about his availability for tomorrow’s potential closeout game. He framed the incident as a setback he hopes to overcome quickly to finish the series. The organization now faces the difficult balance of needing a key veteran in the lineup while weighing the risks of aggravating an injury that could sideline him longer if rushed.
For now, the Dodgers lead the series 2-1, but the physical toll of Tuesday’s win has left their lineup depth under sudden scrutiny.
Miguel Rojas Dodgers NLDS MLB Braves injury update baseball Dave Roberts